110 Popular Culture Review
nineties playing grunge music in garages . In those days , hundreds of thousands of kids bought Nike basketball shoes so they could “ be like Mike ”— Michael Jordan . Long before karaoke became a household word , the day of the wannabe had arrived .
By late summer 2002 , the blurred line between celebrities and wannabes had been erased altogether . The popular TV program American Idol featured off-the-street aspirants to fame and fortunes in a talent-show format , culminating in a face-off between two mediocre singers , Kelly Clarkson , a 20- year old woman from Burleson , Texas , and her 23-year-old opponent , Justin Guarini from Doylestown , Pennsylvania . Viewers were asked to phone in their preference . Clarkson , the winner , was rewarded with a record contract with RCA , plus something called an “ arena tour .” During the competition between Clarkson and Guarini , no fewer than fifteen million Americans voted .
Even more bizarre was the appearance of Brian “ Kato ” Kaelin on a show called Houseguest . Kaelin , let ’ s recall , was a featured ( and very clumsy ) witness in the 1995 murder trial of O . J . Simpson . A spectacularly untalented drifter who came to Hollywood to get into acting , Kaelin decided to capitalize on his TV exposure during the trial by acquiring an agent who , for years , tried with little success to make a cinematic silk purse of his client . Finally , Houseguest producers arranged for Kaelin to move in temporarily with an “ ordinary American ” family , parents and five teenage girls . “ Spontaneous ” interactions among them , including what the producers hoped no doubt would be sexual sparks ignited between Kaelin and the fluttery young girls , would be filmed in a reality show format .
Kaelin ’ s case is instructive . If flimsy Hollywood celebs like Zsa Zsa Gabor and George Hamilton have long been famous for being famous , the Kato Kaelins of the postmodern era are , or are becoming , famous for not being famous . This represents a significant transformation in affect among those millions of Americans who , in the new millennium ’ s first decade , tune in shows like American Idol and Houseguest . Insofar as an element of admiration , even envy , is involved , what psychologists call the narcissistic idealization at the heart of celebrity worship is related , however distantly , to hero-worship . No longer does the new narcissist identify with “ winners ,” as Christopher Lasch has argued ; 2 now it ’ s losers we look for , indeed long for , in the magic mirror of television .
Celebrity mania comes in many shapes and sizes . The post-9 / 11 lionization of New York City firefighters deserves special mention , if only because it was commonly ( and wrongly ) confused with hero-worship or the “ need ” for heroes in the popular media . One Friday night in a downtown Manhattan bar five weeks after 9 / 11 , a journalist overheard a group of firefighters talking candidly and revealingly about how much easier it was to get laid after 9 / 11 than before . But if it ’ s true that human beings like to distance themselves from heroes by putting them on a pedestal , what they don ’ t want is